Combination foundation garment



July 10, 1934. G. E. RUTLEDGE COMBINATION FOUNDATION GARMENT Filed.Aprl15, 1932 z/a F764 In ven-or 650.6655. F072 5065 3M] 716ml MNH Arroz/veYs Patented `uly 10, 1934 UNITED STAT-Es PATENT OFFICE 1,965,860COMBINATION FOUNDATION GARMENT Application April 15,` 1932, Serial N6.605,463

3Claims.

a bust supporting band tensioned across the bottom of the busts, and abust covering portion of soft material which ordinarily is formed withpockets for the busts and aids in their support without constrictingthem. Suitable shoulder strapsl are provided.

It has heretofore been the practice in the manufacture of suchcombination garments to form the various parts separately and jointthemtogether by suitable lines of stitching forming one or moretransversely or circumferentially extending rseams. Such seams areextremely uncomfortable and irritate the wearer greatly as a result oftheir frictional contactunder the tension set up in the garment whenworn. Accordingly, it is a general purpose of the present inventionl toprovide a combination garment embodying the features of a corset andbrassire wherein horizontal or circumferential seams are dispensed with,and which fits the wearer smoothly and comfortably without irritationduring normal body movements.l

More particularly, the invention contemplates a garment having thesedesirable features, wherein the bust covering portion is formed ofelasticly knitted textile fiber yarn and wherein the figure moldingportion is formed of knitted, fiber covered rubber yarn.

In accordance with this invention, the figure molding portion ispreferably formed of a knitted composite yarn comprising a rubber coreand a helical cotton wrapping. A suitable plating yarn of smooth,relatively frictionless material such as rayon preferably covers thecomposite yarn at the outside of the garment but on the inside, therelatively rough lcotton wrapped composite yarn is exposed and actuallycontacts the wearers skin. Thus the garment will be anchored to the bodybut its outside surface will be smooth and relatively slippery so thatdelicate outer or underthings cannot cling or stick thereto.

An additional more specific object of the invention lies in theprovision of a garment of this general character wherein acircumferential bust supporting band portion of knitted material havinga composite rubber body yarn, is formed integrally with the figuremolding portion but is relatively more elastic than such portion. l

A further specific object of the invention is the provision of acombination foundation garment having an integrally formed tail portionof greater elasticity than the ligure molding portion.

The various objects of the invention will be more readily apparent upona detailed study of the accompanying specification and drawing togetherwith the appended claims.

In the drawing, which is merely illustrative of the invention, .Figure 1is a front plan view of a 7. combination foundation garment;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary enlargement showing part of the bustsupporting band portion and adjacent portions of the garment;

Figure 3 is a view diagrammatically illustrating 75 the knit fabric witha plating yarn on both sidesof the composite rubber yarn;

Figure 4 is a cross-section along line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 3 and show- 9| ing a plating yarncovering one side only of the composite rubber yarn;

Figure 6 is a cross-section along line 6-6 of Figure 5; and

Figure 7 `is a fragmentary view of the rear of 85 the garment at the topthereof.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown a combination foundationgarment having a bust covering portion 2, and a body portion generallydesignated at 4 which in this case includes a bust u supporting bandportion 6, a Vfigure molding portion 8 and a tail portion 10. In thefinished garment the portions 6, 8 and 10 are all circumferential. Thebust covering portion 2 may also extend circumferentially about thewearer but is here shown as extending only across the front to each sideas will be apparent from Figure 7. The ends of lthis bust coveringportionv are secured by suitable lines of stitching to raised sideportions at the rear o'f the bust supporting band 100 6. Thus the rearof the bust supporting band portion joins the ends of the bust coveringportion and serves to hold the same under the desired 4circumferentialtension.

Bust covering portion 2 is formed of knitted, 105 racked stitchedtextile ber yarn of any desired type such as silk, cotton, rayon or thelike. The body portion 4 of the garment is formed of a knitted fabricincluding a composite rubber body yarn 20, comprising a rubber core 22with a coveril.

ing of helically wound cotton yarn 24, and a suitable plating yarn oryarns incorporated therewith. A fabric made up of this composite yarnpresents relatively rough surfaces where the composite yarn is notcovered by some plating yarn.

The bust supporting band portion 6 and the tail portion 10 are plated onboth sides by rayon yarn 26 or the like as indicated in Figures 3 and 4.Consequently the composite yarn will be completely concealed and coveredon both sides in the case of each of these portions. The rayon yarnpresents a smooth, relatively frictionless surface so that theseportions are readily capable of movement with respect to the body andouter garments will not cling to them. Portions 6 and 10 are Swissribbed and thus relatively more elastic than portion 8 which is rackedstitched.

In the gure molding portion 8 the composite rubber body yarn 20 iscovered by the rayon plating yarn 26 on one side only as shown inFigures 5 and 6. The arrangement is such that the cotton wrapped bodyyarn 20 is exposed on the inside of the garment while only the rayonplating yarn 26 is exposed on the outside thereof. Thus, the outside ofportion 8 is relatively smooth and frictionless so that clothes will notcling thereto whereas the inside thereof is adapted to anchor thegarment to the body of the wearer.

The garment proper is formed of only two pieces, a front piece and arear piece which are joined together by means of a pair of longitudinalor vertical seams 12 and 14 running down the sides. Each of these piecesis formed separately in a continuous knitting operation. The variousband portions in each piece are integral and there are no seams of anykind joining them.

The knitting of each of the two main garment pieces may be begun ateither end, but assuming that the front piece is being manufactured andthat the knitting operation is begun at the lower end, suicient courseswill be run with the composite yarn 20 and a pair of plating yarns 26 asshown in Figures 3 and 4 to form the front of the Swiss ribbed tailportion 10 in which the composite yarn 20 is concealed on both side: othe finished fabric. When the front tail portion i6 has been formed, theplating yarn 26 which conceals the body yarn on the inside of thefinished fabric is thrown out but the plating yarn which conceals thecomposite yarn on the outside of the finished fabric is retained. TheSwiss ribbing is changed to a, racked stitch and suincient courses arerun to form the front of figure molding portion 8, whereupon the platingyarn which was removed upon completion of the front of portion 10 isagain thrown in and the racked stitch is changed back to Swiss ribbing.Sunilcient courses are then run to form the front of portion 6 which isidentical in structure with portion 10. After the front of portion 6 iscompleted both plating yarns and the composite rubber body yarn 26 arethrown out, and the textile fiber yarn from which bust covering portion2 is made is then thrown in. When sufficient courses have been run tocomplete portion 2, the front piece is completed.

In the formation of the rear piece, the rear part of the tail portion isrst formed whereupon the plating yarn covering the inside of theiinished fabric is thrown out, the Swiss ribbing is changed to a rackedstitch, and the rear of figure molding portion 8 is formed. After thisthe rear of bust supporting band portion 6 is formed and it will benoted that the rear of this portion takes the shape illustrated inFigure 7. Inasmuch as the bust covering portion 2 does not extend aroundthe rear of the garment, the rear piece is completed upon completion ofthe rear part of the portion 6. When the front and rear piecesI arecompleted they are joined together by the lines of stitching 12 and 14.Suitable shoulder straps 16 are provided and suitable garters 18 mayfurther be provided.

When the garment is worn, the tail portion 10 extends below the wearerships so that the skirt line will not be broken there. Due to therelative elasticity of tail portion 10 as compared to figure moldingportion 8, and due also to the absence of any transverse seam connectingthese portions, the wearer will experience no discomfort during ordinarybody movements as, for instance, upon sitting down. There is no bindingor cramping of the flesh for the Swiss ribbed portion 10 expandsreadily. As previously explained, the cotton wrapped body yarn 20 isexposed at the inner surface of figure molding portion 8 and thisportion therefore becomes securely anchored and will not slip or slideout of position. The bust supporting band portion 6 is'similar to thetail portion 10 and lies immediately below the busts. It is sumcientlyelastic to prevent undue constriction of the diaphragm but tssufliciently tightly to provide the necessary support for the busts inco-operation with the bust covering portion 2 which contains no rubberyarn and is of the usual knitted textile fiber fabric used for thispurpose. As will be apparent from the fragmentaryA enlargement shown inFigure 2, the surfaces of the fabric constituting the garment areperfectly smooth even at the line of juncture between adjoining bandportions. There are no transverse seams connecting the various bodyportions. Consequently the garment provides a delightfully smooth twithout any irritation or rubbing of the Wearers skin.

I claim as my invention:

1. A combination foundation garment comprising a bust covering portionformed of knitted textileberyarn,a knitted bust supporting bandportionformed of fabric comprising a cotton wrapped rubber body yarn anda pair of relatively frictionless textile fiber plating yarns concealingthe body yarn on both sides of the finished fabric, and a knitted guremolding portion formed of fabric consisting of a cotton wrapped rubberbody yarn having a relatively frictionless plating yarn incorporatedtherewith to conceal the body yarn on the outside of the finished fabriconly and leave the body yarn exposed on the inside thereof, the insideof said figure molding portion thus being rougher than the outsidethereof and also more rough than either side of the bust supporting bandportion, said bust supporting band portion being formed integrally withthe figure molding portion whereby there are no transversely extendingseams between these garment portions. l

2. A combination foundation garment comprising a bust covering portionformed of knitted textile ber yarn and adapted to extend across thefront of the wearer to the sides, a circumferential bust supporting bandportion formed of Swiss ribbed knitted fabric having a composite rubberbody yarn concealed on each side by means of a plating yarn, said bustsupporting band portion being raised at the rear and secured to the endsof the bust covering portion, a circumferential gure molding portionformed of racked stitched knitted fabric having a composite rubber bodyyarn and a relatively frictionless plating yarn concealing the body yarnonly on the' outside of the finished fabric and leaving the bodyyarnexposed on the inside thereof, and a circumferential tail portion formedof Swiss ribbed fabric having a composite rubber body yarn and arelatively frictionless pair of plating yarns concealing the finishedfabric on both sides, said tail portion and bust supporting band portionbeing relatively more elastic than said figure molding portion, and saidbust covering portion, bust supporting band portion, figure moldingportion, and tail portion being formed integrally whereby there are notrans- Verselyextending seams between these portions.

3. A foundation garment including a body molding portion formed offabric composed of a composite rubber body yarn having a plating yarnassociated therewith in such manner as to cover the body yarn at theoutside of the nished fabric and leave it exposed at the inside thereof,said plating yarn being relatively more smooth and frictionless thansaid composite yarn, whereby the outer surface of the said foundationgarment body portion is relatively smooth and frictionless ascompared toits inner surface and the garment will remain securely anchored upon thewearer but will not tend to catch and hold the wearers outer clothes.

